Wildcatllamas

The "My Next Virgin Voyage" special is pay $300, which when you are ready to book it will be added toward your deposit. On my cruise next September I only had to pay about $148 on the deposit because the $300 was there. Then $300 is reduced from the full price of your cabin. On top of that you now have the $600 Sailor Loot for that new cruise. So it is a real deal all the way around. And if you watch the promotions there are ones that will give you money for your Bar Tab.

Good morning everyone!!!

I just got an email from Virgin to bid for an upgrade on my December 3 Scarlet cruise. One of the offers was for a Seriously Suite for $500. Very tempting, but I know there are only Mega Rock Star Suites left, and other then the bed, I am happy with my Terrace since it was the same cabin I had in 2021. If I were to bid for this are there any drawbacks to any of those cabins that I would regret if my bid was accepted?

My other question is there is a flight out of Barcelona next October on British Air that goes out at 12:30 pm. Is that doable. It is the first time I have seen a multi-city that was cheaper then flying back to London and doing R/T to Denver to London.

1 minute ago, TheDarkestBlue said:

 

Bummer 🤔  I guess I'll be ordering that mattress topper (delivered to my pre cruise hotel) and checking my bag on the flight for my pillow. A really bad night could mess up my entire cruise, and with only five nights, I don't want to take a chance. I'll give the mattress topper to my room attendant after I'm done, there are some very inexpensive ones that might save the day. Oceania has the best beds I have ever slept in, no problem settling in. I think that the sofa idea didn't really pan out as well as they had hoped, I wonder what percentage of people actually use them that way? Maybe they'll revisit in the future. I considered upgrading to a suite, but I didn’t know what I would do with all that alcohol, LOL 

I've thought about having a topper delivered to my hotel as well. I'm taking a shuttle from Fort Lauderdale to Miami so if it isn't to bulky that will work. 

But I just found this one on Amazon and it's light enough and small enough to pack. https://www.amazon.com/ZOOOBELIVES-Inflatable-Comfortable-Backpacking-Lightweight/dp/B07RP81NJW/ref=sr_1_38?hvadid=417003790495&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=9028980&hvnetw=g&hvqmt=e&hvrand=667942160746347879&hvtargid=kwd-872012788770&hydadcr=6225_9590139&keywords=portable%2Bmattress%2Btopper%2Bfor%2Btravel&qid=1699286366&sr=8-38&th=1

Just now, AlyssaJames said:

 

Ah, I think I might be the opposite. When the craze was (and maybe still is?) for beds to have 12" of memory foam on top, I used to regularly wake up with my back out. 🙂 Maybe it was just too much of a good thing. 

Memory foam is good but in moderation and it can't be to soft. It should support and cushion. They use to denote it as in so many pounds. A 2 lb memory foam was super soft and a 5 lb was very firm. I don't know if they still do that. I was good with a 4 lb one.

14 minutes ago, AlyssaJames said:

What makes the mattresses in the regular cabins 'bad' for some people? I've bounced back and forth between balconies and suites quite a bit, and I guess the difference isn't registering for me. Are they too firm for some people or something? 

I have joint issues and there is no cushioning in the couch cushion. Even with two extra comforters on the bed and it was still hard. But to put it in perspective I cruised in an upgraded mini suite on Princess a year ago. It was supposed to have their wonderful, luxurious beds and bedding. It was worse then Virgins. By the second night I had the steward bring me lots of pillows and I slept on them. 

22 hours ago, Ulsteinvik said:

There are 6 new calls that came this week in Bergens and Alesunds list for Valiant Lady on summer 2024. They start on early July until the end of August, mostly with 10-11 day intervals.

Wondering what is going on, maybe Brilliant will take over the cruises out of Miami and Valiant heads to Northern Europe?

I keep watching for Iceland. But that may be for 2025.

I have felt so welcome here when I first booked with Virgin back in May of 2021. All the questions I had but no one had sailed yet. We were all waiting and excited. And then when I sailed I loved the experience. 

I totally agree about some of the other lines. Some times the search feature doesn't produce what you are needing. Here folks jump in with answers. On another line that I sailed with late last year I just got some snarky responses. So what I see is that VV has brought not just a novel and fun product but it has brought together folks who appreciate each other and want to help.

I just looked at my cruise the end of September next year. It has doubled for the Sea Terrace. A friend who said "oh let me think about it" when I booked when they were released is now kicking themselves. I'm hoping that in December they have a good sale like they did last year. Their precursor to Wave season.

1 hour ago, TheDarkestBlue said:

Since we're going to be on in December, do they decorate the ship for the holidays? Wondering if there will be lots of elves around? 🧑🏻‍🎄

When I was on Scarlet back in December 2021 there were no decoration up at that time. I did a back to back for 9 days and nothing. I missed that because on Princess and NCL they do decorate the day after Thanksgiving.

@TheDarkestBlue just opened the app and it was sitting there in a lovely white limbo. And then the clouds cleared and I was able to book the Wake at 9:15. Woo hoo. Due to American messing with my flights I don't depart out of Miami until 3:45 pm so need to kill some time before I head to the airport. I will go to their club at the airport so I can be comfortable once I get there.

I'm on Scarlet on the 5th of December. I got on at 10 minutes before Miami midnight and got all my dinner reservations and brunch reservations done except debarkation day. It wouldn't open for any time on that day. I'll keep trying. 

12 hours ago, JinxyB said:

It wasn’t that good 😭

I thought I was weird because everyone raved about it and like you I felt it wasn't that good.

I booked this cruise last month for a Sea Terrace and the price has doubled since I booked. So I would look at grabbing it.

I love all that Virgin offers. I lasted sailed on Scarlet Lady in December of 2021. I had two cruises booked with Princess - one in 2022 and one the first part of this year. With work, that pretty well tapped out my cruise time. After the two sailings on Princess I doubt I will go back. Virgin has better food and overall is way cheaper then Princess with all that Virgin includes.

Now it is just finding flights. I will probably pay for R/T what I am paying for the cruise. I could do Economy but will probably opt for Premium Economy since the flights are going to be really long hauls.

Airfare has been horrible but I'm a farther then Atlanta. I paid over $400 to go from here to Miami for my cruise in December. Price has come down a bit but not much. I have been checking air for my VV cruise next September and that will be about what I'm paying for the cruise if I don't want to fly back in Economy.

That fish sandwich looks awesome!

Looking forward to your new review. I'll be on Scarlet in December. Hope your shirt arrives in time!

A friend of mine just said she got hers. She is booked on a cruise next February using an MNVV. She called in and asked. She said she was so confused about the rules and what originally was shown. The rep couldn't add it but she went to her supervisor and it was added on. So try calling in versus email.

11 minutes ago, HBCcruiser said:

I agree. I live in LA and would definitely book an RT overnight (or 2) LA to Cabo or RT LA to Hawaii on a Virgin ship!  

As much as I love to go to Hawaii I would be all over a trip to Hawaii. And to meet the foreign port they could stop at Cabo rather then Ensenada (ugh). 

On 10/4/2023 at 7:51 AM, Tyler414 said:

Other than Alaska, I would have zero interest in any west coast cruise.

Well there are way more of us that would like to see sailings from the West coast due to the high cost of getting to the East coast. Thank you for your thoughts though.

2 hours ago, rj59 said:

. What would be pretty cool for a future ship would be to flag it as US and do 7-night Hawaiian island cruises, as NCL does. 

A ship to do that cruise it has to be built in the US. There were exemptions given for Pride of America and Pride of Aloha. Pride of America was about 50% completed at a US shipyard before NCL purchased and moved it to Germany to be finished. A ship could do from US to Hawaii and back with a stop somewhere to meet the foreign port requirement. Another option would be to do complete passages through the Panama Canal doing a back and forth. 

I didn't get one recently. At least they are continuing to check interest.

And now my flight out to Miami has been changed. Arrrg. 

Thanks everyone. I was thinking the same thing. I'm going to be on the phone today to get this changed over. This is the third time American has moved my flights up. Last year it moved an 8:15 AM flight out to a 4:55 AM flight. There is no one at the airport other then the folks at American gate and check in. I ended up with a 6 hour layover at DFW. So I complained when I called American and they kicked in a pass to their club. 

Thanks again - you're the best.

Please don't kill me. I know this has been covered a lot but the search feature didn't pull anything up and I am dealing with a sudden schedule change with American. I was slated for a flight out to home at 1 PM arriving Colorado Springs at 5:15 PM. It appears that flight is off the books (and people complain about cruiselines) and I am now on a flight departing at 10 AM arriving in the Springs at 4:05 PM. My other options are at 2:02 PM or 3:30 PM both arriving in the Springs at 8:07 PM. I live an hour and a half from the Springs and have to be at work the next morning at 6 AM. I have checked all the other airlines going from both FLL and MIA and nothing is showing up close to what would be ideal. Now all of these are also looking at what will the weather be in Colorado on the return? 

So if the stars all align and the tides are just right  - the cab driver hits 90 to the airport - well you get the picture. Can I make it for a flight that early?

They are very firm and as Walter said very thin. When I asked for a topper or something back in 2021 they just brought a couple of the comforters and folded them up on the bed. Didn't really help a lot. I cruise again in December and have thought about shipping a small memory foam travel pad to my hotel so I could carry it on.

I have joint issues and firm beds are not fun. I will say this though as firm as these beds are they are comfy compared to the beds I had on Princess - one was in a concierge mini-suite with all the new bedding and the other one was just a balcony.

19 hours ago, CineGraphic said:

 

We chose Portsmouth to Barcelona, so you'll be boarding her the day we disembark.

Now I need to decide which airport we'll fly into and where we'll stay.

I just booked that one on Tuesday. I have never been outside of the Western Hemisphere or gone from home as long as this one will be, but have to take that jump at some point in life. I was complaining about airfare from airports in Colorado to Miami. Well never again after pricing to Europe, although there are many sources that feel airfare to Europe will be coming down over the next few months. I am going to plan on going into London about 4 days early to do some sightseeing.

When I look back to the day I started this thread it has been a strange road we have all traveled on. And now that we all know "What Happened to Brilliant Lady?" do you think we could sell the movie rights?